One
thousand Pagoda Commemorative Coins were created to
be not only a keepsake for the Pagoda Centennial
Celebration but also a fund raiser for the newly
created Pagoda Foundation.
Pagoda History
The Pagoda was
commissioned in 1906 at a cost of $50,000 by William
A. Witman, Sr. to cover his stone quarry; the Pagoda
was completed in 1908. It was originally intended as
a luxury resort atop Mt. Penn, but due to the bank’s
foreclosure and the denial of a liquor license,
Witman never opened his building. By 1910 the
Pagoda and surrounding 10 acres were deeded to local
business owner, Jonathon Mould and his wife, Julia
Bell. On April 21, 1911 they “sold” the Pagoda to
the City of Reading for the sum of $1. Since then
the Pagoda has been owned, loved and cared for by
the City of Reading and its citizens.